Nearly every vehicle produced today is equipped with a host of vehicular systems each having a variety features that may be adjusted by the vehicle's driver or passenger between various settings. A modern vehicular audio system, for example, may require a user to choose from multiple audio sources (e.g., CD, XM radio, FM radio, AM radio, onboard hard drive, an auxiliary source, etc.), and then from a plurality of features associated with the selected audio source (e.g., tracks for a particular CD, stations for FM radio, audio files for the onboard hard drive, etc.). Additionally, the user may be permitted to fine tune the audio system's tone balance (e.g., adjust the relative levels of bass, treble, mid-range tones, etc.), adjust the system's volume, and/or manipulate the appearance of a display (e.g., time display for CD tracks, broadcast text display for radio, graphic equalizer display, backlight color, etc.).
User interfaces have been developed that allow users to control multiple vehicular systems to help manage the ever-growing number of vehicular systems and system features. One known user interface, referred to as a Driver Information Center (DIC), includes a plurality of user inputs (e.g., buttons) and a display (e.g., a liquid crystal display) capable of displaying several lines of characters. The DIC is typically disposed on the vehicle's center stack located between the driver seat and the front passenger seat so that the controls may be accessed by either the driver or a front passenger of the vehicle. To utilize the DIC interface, a user navigates through a tiered hierarchy of menus to view and select amongst various vehicular systems and the adjustable features associated therewith. Tiered menu structures of this type often require that a user advance through several different levels of menus to locate a desired feature and thus may become relatively complex. Additionally, such menu structures may not permit the simultaneous display of multiple groups of system features. The conventional control assemblies utilized to interact with user interfaces may also be disadvantageous in certain respects. If the control assembly is mounted on the vehicle's center stack, for example, it may be somewhat inconvenient to a driver. If instead mounted on a vehicle's steering wheel, the controls assembly is not accessible to front-seat passengers of the vehicle.
It should thus be appreciated that it would be desirable to provide a user interface employing relatively intuitive and shallow menu structure (i.e., comprising no or few tiers). It should also be appreciated that is would be desirable to provide a means for utilizing such a user interface, such as a user control assembly that is convenient to a driver and easily accessible to front-seat passengers of a vehicle. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.